Poisoned Blood (Adopted from Poseidon'sWizardingGuardian)
by PrincessAurora1000
Summary: Remus Lupin, werewolf, smart, resilient, and shy. Suddenly sick. Horribly sick. Diagnoses? Poison. A new poison, one that is in no book, is now in his bloodstream. Chances of survival are slim unless James, Sirius, and Peter can somehow work together with Snivellous, oh, sorry, Snape, to find the antidote. No slash, takes place in the Marauder's fourth year.
1. Prologue

**Hello readers. I adopted this story from Poseidon'sWizardingGuardian. They had written the prologue and first 6 chapters, I simply** **transferred these chapters here. The 7th chapter on will be my own work.**

Severus Snape snuck out of the Slytherin dorm, a vial filled with a dark red substance clutched firmly in one hand. His obsidian eyes darted down the hallway in search of the caretaker, before darting off. The small frame was easily concealed in darkness as the boy slipped down the corridors and the flights of stairs. No one stopped him, which was perfect. Quite soon, Severus approached his destination, a large painting of a fruit bowl. Following the instructions he'd managed to get off of the Slytherin Pranksters, he reached up and lightly tickled the pear. A laugh was heard as the picture swung forward, revealing the entrance to a hot and steamy inside, Snape was greeted by hundreds of house elves, all milling together in perfect harmony. Clearing his throat, Severus caught the attention of every creature in the room. "Excuse me!" He called down, "excuse me everyone, this is very important." With this, he held up his small vial and continued, "This potion is very important for a friend of mine, his name is Remus Lupin. Can I be assured that it will get into his morning pumpkin juice?" Not being able to resist a direct order, they all bowed and murmured a series of, "Yes master's and "of course, master's". One small elf, wearing a dishrag like a toga, stepped forward and reached for the potion, saying, "Sir, Tini will take care of it for you. Yes, yes. Tini will," With that, Severus lowered the glass vial into the elf's small hands, nodded his thanks, and disappeared back into the dark corridor.


	2. Chapter 1

Monday morning dawned bright and early in the fourth year boy's dormitory. James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew began to prepare for the day of classes ahead of them. Each boy donned their usual house tie, and put their wands into their book bags, along with their necessary materials and, in Moony's case, the Lord of the Rings. Each boy threw on their robes as they stepped out of the bedroom, and slipped out the portrait hole, heading for the great hall, and food.

* * *

The pain had started after breakfast. Remus had been on his way to potions when the pounding in his ears began. It soon became a dull throb behind his eyes, but the pain seemed to continually increase. It was difficult to concentrate in class, and Remus ended up doing most of the steps out of order, which resulted in snickers and jeers from the Slytherin portion of the class, and confused looks from the Gryffindors.

Remus rubbed his eyes, trying to make his vision go singular so he could read the next step and hopefully fix his potion. That only made it worse. The headache was building, and Remus felt like it would crash down at any moment. The boy felt like blacking out, as the fumes from the potions had begun to make his head fuzzy, but that wouldn't do. He had to finish this potion, it was worth 100 points. The only problem was, Remus couldn't remember what the potion was. Was it doxycide part 1? Or maybe the draught of sleep?

And was it supposed to be dark blue? Remus shivered. It was suddenly very cold in the potions classroom. He glanced up at Slughorn, hoping it was almost time to get out of class. Remus jumped as he felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned to see James, looking at him with concern.

"Uh, Remus," he said, "you've been staring at the blackboard for, like, ten minutes."

Remus shook his head.

"Sorry," he said, "I must've zoned out."

James nodded and went back to his potion. Remus looked down at his own cauldron and attempted to fix the mess that was beginning to boil over.

* * *

Divination wasn't much better. Remus's headache had increased tenfold, plus Professor Orcland had paired him up with a Ravenclaw girl named Sybil Trelawney, who claimed to have "the eye." The perfumes coming from the fireplace made Remus's head spin, and Trelawney's nonsense about pain and death in his future wasn't helping much. Remus let out a small sigh as he stared at the dregs in his tea cup, trying to find a picture in the blurry mess in front of him.

Sybil was almost impatient as he attempted to decipher it, asking if she would become a famous seer every ten seconds, her glasses making her eyes pop out of her head.

Finally, Remus gave up and made up the prediction that Trelawney would someday predict the death of two dear friends. The girl nearly jumped to the moon with joy. Strange. Moony had also begun coughing. Hoarse, deep coughs that seemed to scratch his throat. The three other Marauder's looked at him with concern, but Remus brushed it off with a quick, "I'm fine," and dashing off to lunch.

* * *

Charms was a flop as Remus's words were slurred, causing the poor boy to not be able to annunciation the incantation for Aguamenti. The worst part of the day though, by far, was DADA. This year's professor, Professor Jaggery, was having the entire class attempt defensive spells that they had not prepared for, night a pop quiz. Remus' mind was so fogged that he couldn't focus on the spells, and was worse than Peter. Homework that night was to practice the stunning spell until it was perfect.

* * *

The Marauders stepped into the Great Hall, Remus about three paces behind the other three. The group plopped down at their usual spot, but instead of filing his plate with food, Remus rested his head on the table and closed his eyes. Sirius eyed his friend with worry.

It wasn't like Moony to fall asleep anytime before bed, even in History of Magic. Sirius signaled Peter, who was seated next to Remus, to wake their friend up. Peter, who apparently got the message, began gently shaking the werewolf, saying, "Remus! Wake Up! It's dinner time!" Remus groaned and lifted his head up.

"But Peter," he said, "It's so hot in here. I don't think I could eat a thing, it'll all be scalding."

It was not hot in the Great Hall. It was a comfortable seventy degrees, perfect for the autumn chills outside. Peter, James, and Sirius shared a look as Remus rested his head on his plate again and drifted off. James, who was seated across from Moony, chucked a piece of chicken at him, once again waking him up. Remus moaned, and stood up.

"I'm heading up to bed," he said.

Sirius stared at him. "Uh, Remus, don't know if you remember, but we have a boat load of homework tonight. Orcland's predictions, Slughorn's essay on Bundimun, and Jaggery's stupid Stunning Spell," he said.

Remus shrugged, and plopped back down in his seat.

"Fine," he muttered. Sirius, looking quite pleased with himself, nodded and went back to eating. None of the Marauders noticed Remus grow a shade paler.


	3. Chapter 2

Tuesday was rainy. Awful day for double Herbology, especially when it was first class of the day. Each student wore a sweatshirt underneath their robes, and a pair of gloves. Remus shivered, too cold to concentrate on the proper way to replant a Moly, a flower with a black stem and blue-ish petals. The poor boy's hands shook as he dug them into the rich soil, grabbing the plant by it's roots and yanking it out of the pot. Remus gave a harsh fit of coughing before placing the flower into the bigger pot, where it would have more room to grow.

Professor Sprout, a young but short woman, bustled over to inspect it, not noticing the heavy bags under Remus' eyes from a sleepless night. She huffed in annoyance as she noticed that Remus hadn't taken the time to properly separate and spread out the roots and told him to try again.

Lily Evans, a muggle born girl in his year and house and was standing next to him, gave Remus a look of confusion. The small boy usually took the most extreme care whenever doing something in class. He was the only Marauder who took notes, who paid attention, and made acceptable, and keep in mind, acceptable potions.

"Lupin," she said, "are you alright?"

Remus nodded, wearily, giving a soft,

"Fine,"

before doubling over in a loud bought of coughing. Lily rubbed small circles in his back till it subsided, and than said.

"You should go to the hospital wing."

Remus shook his head.

"I'm f-fine, Evans, r-really," he stuttered out, "j-just a c-cold. I'll b-be b-better tomorrow."

Lily shook her head, not understanding the stubbornness of boys, and sent a pleading look over to the Slytherin area, where Severus was carefully parting the roots.

The boy caught her gaze with his own, shrugged, and went back to working. Lily glared at him, and turned back to Remus as he straightened up.

"I-I really a-am fine," he said, going back to separating his roots. Lily once again gave him a worried look before sighing and turning back to her own plant.

James Potter's evening, in two words, seriously sucked. Lily was ignoring him (no surprise there) Sirius was flirting (once again, no surprise) Remus was curled up in an armchair half asleep, and Peter was attempting his homework. "Remus," Peter said, looking up from the floor towards his semi-conscious friend, "How do you prepare Dragonfly Thoraxes for a Calmness Draught?" Remus sighed and said in no more than a mutter.

"G-Grind them to a p-paste, and then-n p-put them w-where the light h-hits them at a thirty d-degree angle. Finish by l-lightly sprinkling p-powered unicorn tail hair on i-it."

In the firelight, the small boy's dark circles were even more prominent against his chalk-white face. Remus shivered violently and suddenly saying softly.

"Blimey, it's c-cold in here."

James looked up from his Transfiguration essay to stare at his friend who was sitting almost directly in front of the fireplace. He stared at his friend's ghost-like appearance, and said.

"Moony, how about you go to bed."

Remus looked at him like he had gone mad.

"But you guys haven't finished your homework yet," he said. James sighed. Even though that was true, Remus looked like death itself.

"Go to bed, Remus," he demanded. Remus groaned, but relief was evident in his eyes as he dragged himself out of the chair and up the staircase.

* * *

James had hoped Remus would look better when they woke up on Wednesday. He was so wrong.

First off, he, Sirius, and Peter spent, like, ten minutes trying to get their friend out of bed to almost no prevail.

Then, they realized they didn't have enough time to actually get Remus dressed, so they simply threw his robe over his white and baby blue striped pajamas, and quickly tied his tie.

At breakfast they had to practically spoon feed him porridge.

And that was just the morning.


	4. Chapter 3

Remus' first class of the day was Ancient Runes, with an extremely strict professor, Bathsheda Babbling. This class definitely legitimately sucked.

"Lupin!"

Professor Babbling had shouted as the boy once again dozed off.

"What is the meaning of this?"

Remus looked up to find every eye in the class on him. He mumbled something incoherently as Babbling marched over to his desk.

"And not even in correct uniform. You know very well you cannot go prancing around in pajamas with your hair sticking straight up and a lousy excuse for a knot in your tie."

Oh how Remus wished at that moment more than any that Peter, Sirius and James were in that class with him.

"Detention," the Professor declared.

"Meet me in my office tonight at seven. No later. And fifty points from Gryffindor!"

Remus groaned and attempted to take notes for the rest of the class.

* * *

The next lesson he was lucky enough to have his friends in. Transfiguration.

"So Moony," Sirius said, as they took their seats and began preparing for McGonagall, "how was class?"

"B-babbling gave m-me detention for-or n-not having c-correct school u-uniform."

James shook his head, and said, "That's not fun, buddy. Hope you don't get busted by McGonagall. Man, that would be awful."

Remus nodded and laid his head down on his desk, stifling a hoarse coughing fit.

"Ugh," he said, as Peter tentatively laid a hand on his friend's back. Sirius nodded to him, conveying that he was proud that Peter was providing some sort of support. The door opened, and Professor McGonagall stepped in.

"Remus," James murmured, nudging his friend. Remus groaned and sat up, lamely attempting to flatten down his insane hair.

"Please pull out your wands, and your Intermediate Transfiguration textbook. Turn to page 69, and begin to practice turning your desks into Miniature Horses."

Remus groaned again. Today was positively the worst day to get sick. All year he had been looking forward to more difficult magic, and today, of all days, they were starting it.

He picked up his wand, and began waving it in the air, his foggy mind not particularly focusing on anything. He hadn't even noticed he had begun to drift off until he heard a sharp,

"Mr. Lupin!"

Raising his head, he discovered a very disgruntled McGonagall standing in front of him.

"Are we interrupting your personal nap?" she asked, before actually noting his completion. His cheeks were slightly sunken, and his skin was much too pale. Dark circles rimmed his dull eyes, and his hands shook.

"Remus, please join me in the hallway," she said quietly before straightening up and exiting the classroom. Remus stood shakily, using his desk for support. His three friends began to rise to assist him, but he waved them down, sending them an, "I got this. I think," look.

Tentatively, he put one foot in front of the other, feeling the stares of his classmates on his back. Eventually making it to the front, he placed one hand on the handle, and slowly pushed open the door.

McGonagall stood, waiting. An expression of concern evident on her face.

"Remus," she said.

"are you feeling alright? You look as though," she lowered her voice, as though it's the full moon tomorrow."

Her eyes widened, thinking she had forgotten something important, but she relaxed as Remus shook his head.

"No, professor, just a head cold. I'll be better tomorrow, it just needs some time."

McGonagall did not look convinced, but excepted this answer, silently vowing to keep an eye on her young lion. She sent him back into her classroom just as class finished up. She watched as Remus and his three friends stepped out the door towards lunch, carefully noting how Potter and Black each held one of his shoulders, as if trying to support him without being noticed.


	5. Chapter 4

Life could not possibly have gotten worse for Remus Lupin. Being a werewolf, sick, and now getting detention. Every time Remus willed his eyes to focus on the piece of parchment in front of him that he was writing lines on, he headache went from just-slightly-bearable to completely-and-utterly-kill-me-now. Yeah. Not Cool. He didn't know how long he'd sat there, but eventually heard a sigh from the teacher's desk. He looked up and saw Professor Babbling standing next to him, her hand outstretched. It took the werewolf a minute to realize that she wanted his paper, and quickly handed it to her.

"What the devil?" She said, "Lupin, there's barely anything on here, and what there is is barely legible."

Remus shook his head, but stopped abruptly when he noticed that it only worsened his already impending migraine, and managed to stutter out,

"S-s-sorry, pro-professor,"

His headache was building, it wouldn't stop. Remus didn't think it could get any worse, but it did. It never stopped. He could feel it in his neck, down his spine, into his hands and feet, the pain was everywhere and it just kept getting worse and worse and worse until,

"Lupin!" Professor Babbling exclaimed as the boy slumped in his seat.

She knelt down next to him, paper discarded on the floor, and put tow fingers on his neck to check his pulse, it was weak, then his breathing. It was ragged, shallow, and barely noticeable. His face was incredibly unnaturally pale, yet extremely flushed at the same time. She waved her wand, conjuring a stretcher before levitating the unconscious boy onto it. Babbling set off at a quick pace out of her office and down the hallway, all the while wondering what could be wrong with the boy. It was no where near the full moon, no a quick glance out a window confirmed that. Then what could be ailing him? Surely if he felt sick she would have noticed, then again…Oh god, he had been sick and she hadn't noticed? Babbling felt terrible. How could this have happened?

'Honestly, Bathsheda!' She thought, taking a look at his face again, 'how could you have noticed? You stupid woman! He's obviously extremely ill! I wonder if Minerva knows?' She was jolted out of her thoughts by the sight of the hospital wing doors. She quickly cast them open and hurriedly walked in, being semi-quiet. She reached the empty bed that the werewolf usually used to recuperate in after a full moon, and laid the boy down there. Then, she set off at a fast pace toward Madame Pomfrey's office. The medi-witch assessed the boy, ending here investigation with an, "Oh my god!"

The next morning James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew burst threw the doors hurrying over to where they could see Madame Pomfrey fussing over something.

"Madame Pomfrey!" James said as they rushed over, "Remus, we think he's sick, actually we think he's been sick for a while now, anyway he had detention last night, and didn't come back, so we-" he cut himself off as the three marauders froze, staring with wide eyes at the occupant of the bed. Remus John Lupin, lycanthropy victim, was lying in it, his skin tone matching his sheets, his cheeks flushed, yet sunken, his hair sticking to his forehead, which gleamed with sweat, his breathing ragged, and his eyes squeezed shut in obvious pain.

"What the bloody hell…?" Sirius said, quickly looking towards the healer for an explanation. She sighed,

"Last night," she began, "Professor Babbling came to my office, stating that Mr. Lupin was sick. I came out, and ran a diagnostic check on him. What I saw nearly stopped my own heart. It appears that your friend is under the influence of a severe poison. It is unrecognizable, and contains the affects of several different poisons, none of which individually are lethal, but together create an extremely long and painful death. Over the course of the next few months, give or take until June, Remus will be slowly killed. The poison first will attack his brain, giving him severe headaches and short term memory loss, then it will begin down his body and into his nervous system, causing temporary paralysis, before slowly making it s way towards his stomach. The poison will kill him by attacking his heart," Every marauder was stunned into silence, which was a rare occurrence in itself. But, adding in the fact that their best friend was dying made the situation so grievous, that no one attempted to break the quiet spell. James crouched next to Remus. He had never considered him close until that moment when he realized Remus was more than a friend, Remus was James' little brother, the voice of reason inside of their trouble making group, but always ready to partake in the pranks. He was the one who could put a leash on Sirius' flirting, and occasionally make James see that pursuing Lily Evans was pointless, though he would obviously never stop. And Peter, poor Peter. It was Remus' idea to bring him into the group. The poor boy had been an outcast the first few weeks of school, until one day when Lupin had invited him over to sit with them during breakfast. He must not have wanted another outsider in the world. James hung his head, allowing a single tear to slide from beneath his closed eyelid before whispering.

"Who would've done this to you, Moony? Who would've done this to anyone. You would never hurt a fly. So why would someone hurt you?" He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Sirius, not looking down at James, but strait ahead at nothingness while tears flowed freely from his usually happy eyes. Both of them heard the sniffling and stifled sobs of Peter behind them, and James turned around opening his arms wide. Peter looked up, and ran forward into his embrace. All three boys broke down next to their unconscious friend. But Sirius wasn't going to give up so easy.

'I will find a cure,' he silently vowed, 'Remus Lupin, you will live. I solemnly swear it on the Marauder's name.'


	6. Chapter 5

Dumbledore stood next to one of the beds in the Hospital Wing. His eyes twinkled sadly as he looked down at the small boy lying asleep in bed. Madame Pomfrey stood at his side, looking sadly down at Remus Lupin.

"He should be moved to St. Mungo's," she said softly. Dumbledore shook his head.

"No," he said, "if he truly has been poisoned this badly, the healers there wouldn't be able to provide anything more than you can here. He will want to be with his friends, and his parents will be contacted in the morning. They will most likely want to be with him." Pomfrey nodded, looking at the three sleeping boys in the chairs. She reached down and gently took the glasses off of one of them. She placed it on the dresser, before turning away and retreating to her office.

Remus had woken up a little after dawn on Saturday morning to find himself in a hospital bed, and his three best friends all asleep in chairs next to him. He thought for a moment trying to recall what had happened. No, it hadn't been a full moon, no, they hadn't had a dueling class, no James hadn't dropped Firewhiskey into his Pumpkin Juice again (long story) so what had happened? 'Oh, right,' Remus said as he finally acknowledged the terrible pounding in his head, 'how many bets I passed out in detention?' Seriously, he swore the entire percussion section of a high school band was in there, pounding on the drums as hard as they could! He held in a groan and rubbed his hands over his face. His fingers got caught in his extremely tangled bangs, and he didn't like how hollow his cheeks felt. His stomach rumbled, and he looked down at it in surprise. He was hardly ever this hungry. He reached over to the nightstand to find a piece of parchment, grabbed it, and read what was written: Hey Moony! Just writing this in case you're not up by the time we leave for breakfast. James simply cannot miss his daily dose of flirting with Evans. Ugh, give me a break! Anyway, we'll probably be back here by noon with a pile of homework, both ours and yours, to keep you occupied! Also the map! Maybe while you're sick you can finally get a move on with it and finish those dang enchantments! Anyway, see you, soon, Mate!- Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs! (But mostly Padfoot considering he was the one who wrote this letter) Remus smiled lightly at the paper, and carefully ripped it into thirds. He then proceeded to ball up each strip, and throw them at his three sleeping partners in crime. "Oi!" he said, "get up you lot! I'm not dead, which means no time for sleeping!" (I know, I'm evil!) James arose with a snort, serious more of a groan and a "five more minutes, Mum," and Peter, well he didn't get up. He just kept sleeping. James rubbed his eyes, looking around as he realized his glasses had been removed sometime during the night. He than hit Sirius, who had actually been falling back asleep, and kicked Peter, who jumped and said, "I'm awake! Or are we all asleep?" Remus laughed lightly, but stopped when he realized it really hurt his head. The three seemed to just notice Remus' consciousness, and broke out in smiles. "Remus!" Sirius said, "you all right?" Remus gave a gesture that clearly meant so-so, and replied, "How about you?" "Pretty good, except for the fact that you practically scared us out of our own bodies last night!" "Hey, once a marauder, always a marauder. Scaring you guys is in the job description," "Yeah, but this one wasn't funny mate," Sirius said. James nodded, and said, "We were honestly fearful for your life, and, well, that hasn't stopped," Remus cocked his head to a side slightly, and asked, "What do you mean?" "Well, um, how do I break this to you lightly…?" "You're dying!" Peter blurted out quickly, before two pairs of hands covered his mouth. James and Sirius carefully let their arms down, turning back to their friend.

"How long?" Remus asked quietly, looking down.

"About to the end of the school year," Sirius said, any previous humor gone from his voice.

"And they can't do anything about it?" Remus asked.

"No, I'm so sorry mate," James replied, as he carefully moved to sit by his friend. He noticed that Remus was crying, and he took him in a tight embrace. Sirius joined in, and so did Peter. The four Marauders all clung to each other, so if it were a life line.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Lupin,

I am terribly terribly sorrowed to inform you that your son, Remus, has become terribly sick. Our conclusion is poison, a new concoction that we do not have yet an antidote to. I can assure you that we will do everything in our power to save him, but Madame Pomfrey, our resident healer, does not give him longer than mid-June. Therefore, you are all invited up to stay with your son. Guest rooms will be made for you in Gryffindor Tower, which is where your son will be released to once Madame Pomfrey is done fussing over him in the Hospital Wing.

Sincerely,

Professor Albus Dumbledore

Headmaster of Hogwarts

Grand Sorcerer

Supreme Mugwump

Chief Warlock of the Wizangamont

Order of Merlin, First Class

Dear Professor Dumbledore,

My wife and I were quite distressed at your last letter. We will be making our way to Hogwarts in a week, as I have work and will need to get someone in for me. We will bring some comforts for Remus, and will be sure to stay with him as long as we can.

Sincerely,

Lyall and Hope Lupin


	7. Chapter 6

The two Lupins arrived in Hogsmead one week after the letter had arrived at their home. They had wanted to get to their son as quickly as possible, but at the same time were terrified as to what they would find.

Their little Remus had been through so much in his short life. Not even ten years ago he had been diagnosed with lycanthropy thanks to that no good scumbag Frenrir Greyback. Then, he had begun to face discrimination. After his first transformation, he was so upset he had locked himself in his room for two days and not allowed anyone to come in. He finally came out when the hunger proved too much to bear. Then, he had been terrified about not being accepted to Hogwarts due to his condition, and finally about not being able to make friends. Now this! It wasn't fair for him, not at all.

They were greeted by a lively young Hufflepuff girl with honeysuckle blonde hair that fell in curls down to her shoulders.

"Hi!" She said, a bit enthusiastically considering the reason the couple was there, "my name is Melody Brown, and I'll be your helpful little Hufflepuff today! We brought down a carriage just for you two! Well, and me of course!"

She lead them up the road a ways before stopping in front of a horse drawn carriage, with no horse. Hope gasped slightly, and Lyall gently rubbed her back. He knew Hogwarts was a lot to take in right away. They all clambered in, Melody helping with their bags, and we're off to Hogwarts.

"Did you know," Melody said, leaning in close to the pair sitting across from her, "that the carriages are supposedly drawn by Threstrals, a horse that can only be seen after seeing death. Isn't that so cool? Some students have claimed to see them, but not me! No sir!"

They rode the next ten minutes in silence, well, almost silence. Melody was spitting off facts her Ravenclaw friend had shared with her. Hope had grabbed Lyall's hand early on in the ride, and silent tears were running down her face.

The three Marauders stood in the entrance hall. Them being Remus' best friends, they considered themselves the, "House Representatives of Gryffindor, and Representatives of Messr Moony while he is unable to perform his usual tasks,"

Peter straightened his tie, James cleaned his glasses, and Sirius yawned. They had snuck out late he previous night to tell the werewolf that his family was on the way. Unfortunately, it was all for not when they realized that Remus was asleep again, so they left a note, played Wizard Chess for half an hour, and then returned to the common room.

"Hey, you two!" Peter said, pointing outwards, "I think they're coming,"

Suddenly, James felt something run into him. He turned around quickly to find Lily Evans and Severus Snape, panting and out of breath.

"They're not here yet, are they?" Lily said in between gasps. James shook his head.

"No," he said, quickly putting his glasses back on, "I mean, they're almost here, I mean, what in Merlin's pants is Snivellous doing here?"

"He wanted to come," Lily replied, "You know, meet the parents of the one tolerable Marauder and find out what they did right,"

Sirius laid a hand over his heart in mock hurt. The two groups glared at each other for a moment longer before the chattering of a girl, probably a Hufflepuff, was heard.

"And the ceilings magic, it is! It's charmed to look like the sky. I personally think the sky is prettier, but that's just me! Oh, look, we're here!"

Immediately, the three marauders ran forward.

"Hi, Mrs. and Mr. Lupin!" James said. The boys had met Remus' parents the summer after first year, when they had come over for a few days. Ever since, they had gotten into a habit of hanging out with their lycanthropic friend at least every day after the full moon, if not more often. And every time, Remus would say,

"You guys are the best, you know that? The biggest idiots, but the best!"

And they all knew that they wouldn't hear it again next summer if they didn't help Remus. Each marauder reached up and grabbed one of the bags, slowly lowering it to the dirt road. Lily stepped over, and Severus stayed behind.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Lupin," she said, "it's truly a pleasure to meet you. I'm one of Remus' friends, Lily Evans,"

Each marauder turned and stared at her. Lily considered herself one of Remus' friends? When had this happen?

Mrs. Lupin gently shook Lily's hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lily," she said. Hope Lupin was truly a beautiful woman. She kept her frizzy brown hair tied back, and had a bandana folded across her head, like a headband. She had soft blue eyes that were timeless, and smile lines around her eyes. She wore a soft, light purple shawl over her shoulders, and a light brown cloak that obviously was well loved. Lyall Lupin was a handsome man, with short, dirty blonde hair, stubble across his chin, and playful brown eyes. He too had smile lines creasing the corners of his eyes. He usually wore a light grey tweed jacket and a black tie over a white shirt, and a pair of grey trousers. He always wore muggle Nikes, though for some unknown reason. Both parents had a sad look to them, though, and a sort of feel to them that expressed a happy/sad vibe.

"Well, you can come on in, then," Lily said, "Mrs. Lupin, you're a muggle right? Well, I can assure you Hogwarts will live up to every fantasy you had about wizards as a little girl. It did for me. I'm a muggle-born, you see,"

And with that, Lily lead the couple into the castle.


	8. Chapter 7

The Lupins had been at Hogwarts for about a week and Remus had try to keep up an appearance of being completely fine. In truth after the shock of learning that he was going to die, Remus just wanted to have some form of normalcy to get his mind off of everything. However, both Madam Pomfrey and his parents were firmly against it.

"Just one class," Remus said, "I could be back here right after it."

"Remus, dear, I don't think you needed to be out moving around," Mrs. Lupin said.

"Mum, there no real need for me to stay in the hospital wing," Remus reasoned, "In fact, Madame Pomfrey will have to let me out of the hospital wing soon."

"Let him go Hope," Mr. Lupin said as he walked into his room and had overheard the conversation.

"But, Lyall…" Mrs. Lupin began.

"Hope he should get out," Mr. Lupin said trying very hard to hide his feelings. He knew that it was unlikely that Remus would survive in time for them to find a cure.

Mrs. Lupin did not look convinced.

"If it would make you feel any better we can talk with Madam Pomfrey and see what she thinks," Mr. Lupin said with Remus nodding his head with every

Mrs. Lupin sighed knowing how this usually goes when the two of them gang up on her.

"Oh, alright but only if Madam Pomfrey says it is alright."

A huge smile spread across Remus' face.

"And you follow any instructions she gives you."

"I will Mum, don't worry."

"And you stay with either James, Sirius or Peter the whole time you are out."

"Well that something I never thought you would say," Mr. Lupin cut in. "Aren't you always telling me that Remus needs to spend some time away from them because they get him into so much trouble."

Mrs. Lupin gave her husband a look that got him to shut up.

"I promise to stay with them the whole time," Remus said acting like his father hadn't said anything.

"Alright, we will go talk to Madam Pomfrey about you going to classes tomorrow. But I would like you to get some rest," Mrs. Lupin said getting up.

When Mr. and Mrs. Lupin went into Madam Pomfrey's office she was in the middle of making a disgusting looking purple potion that had green bubbles popping in it.

"Madam Pomfrey, may we speak with you," Mr. Lupin asked.

"One moment I am just need to finish this potion for Remus."

She than pulled out a bottle from the shelf above her, measured out a small portion of it and put it into the potion. Almost instantly all of the green bubbles disappeared from the potion and it was a solid green.

"That should do it," Madam Pomfrey said as she took a portion of the potion in put it into a cup for Remus to drink.

"Will that cure him," Mrs. Lupin asked unable to hide the hope in her voice.

She sighed, "No, but it will help him with his headaches."

Mrs. Lupin deflated like a balloon that had been popped. Mr. Lupin quickly changed the subject to the reason they were there.

"Madam Pomfrey, we were wondering if it would be alright for Remus to go to some of his classes. He shouldn't have to be copped up here all the time."

For the first time sense the Lupins walked in the door, Madam Pomfrey turned to look at them.

"Normally I would never even think of letting one of my patients out when they are still under my care, but I don't think it would be right in this case. In all honestly when I first diagnosed Remus I wanted to send him to St. Mungo but Dumbledore pointed out that it would be better for him to be here with the people who care for him. And now that I think about it it might be better for him to be out and about."

With that she picked up the tray she put Remus' medicine on and walked to the door.

"But I want him back in this hospital wing at least twice a day as I can look over him and he will be spending his night here and not in that common room. I know Dumbledore plans for him to stay in there, but I want to wait a little while."

The next morning Remus was up, trying very hard to hide the fact that his headaches were starting back up, and getting his books into his bag of class.

"Remember, Remus that Dumbledore set your father and I up with quarter in the Gryffindor Tower if you need us," Mrs. Lupin said.

"I know mum."

"And remember that you have to come back to the hospital wing during lunch so that Madam Pomfrey can give you your potions."

"Okay."

"Also remember that you are to come straight back to the here after your classes are done."

Remus sighed, he wondered if every mother worried this much.

"I will see you after class mum," Remus said waving good bye to both her and his father and headed out the door.

Remus was happy to be out of the hospital wing, because while his head still hurt maybe being out of the hospital wing would help him getting his mind off of being poisoned. For almost two weeks now he has sent all of his time in the hospital wing with nothing to think about other than his quickly approaching death. During that time not only could he not get this off of his mind, everyone looked at him with pity in their eyes, and while he loved his parents, their being there only reinforced how serious his condition was.

For now, he just wanted to be a normal student. He had managed to pull off being a normal student with lycanthropy, he couldn't he be a normal student who has been poisoned. Okay not normal, but one who gives off the appearance of being normal.

All hopes of pulling that off ended when he walked into the Great Hall for breakfast.

The noise in the hall slowly faded away as students stopped their conversations to stare at him, many of them giving sympathetic looks. It was clear that the habit of news to spread quickly throughout Hogwarts had not changed in his two weeks in the hospital wing. Remus walked quickly to the Gryffindor table, trying his best to ignore the stares he was getting.

"Is it true that you're dying," a first year said from behind him.

At this Remus' face went pale.

"Why don't you go and mind your own business," James said glaring at the first year. He and Peter had just arrived in the Great Hall.

The first year squealed and ran off. With him gone Remus turned to greet his friends.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it," James said as he took Remus by the arm and pulled him into a set. The whole time giving the other students a look that made it clear that they were not to bring up Remus' illness.

After James had pushed Remus into a set, he sat down next to him while Peter took the set on the other side of Remus.

"I thought that Madam Pomfrey and your parents weren't going to let you are of the hospital wing," Peter said as he piled his plate full of food.

"Yeah, me too," James said putting food onto Remus' plate. "Sorry we couldn't come see you in the past few days, but Madam Pomfrey said we were spending to much time in the hospital wing and needed to spend time away from it."

Remus smiled at this. He thought this might have been the reason he hadn't seen them in the past few days. James and Peter had spent almost all of their free time in the hospital wing. While he wasn't there as much as James and Peter, Sirius had also become a common sight in the hospital wing.

With that thought Remus noticed that one member of their group was not at breakfast.

"Where's Sirius?"

A nervous look appeared on both James and Peter's faces.

"He's at the library," James said.

"At the library," Remus repeated with a questioning look on his face. Sirius avoid the library like it was the plague. He did not like to study and it was clear that putting little effort into his school work was one of the ways he had come up with to get back at his parents. He made sure he did well enough to pass, but he never did anything extra, like studying during breakfast.

"Yeah, his failing potions and Slughorn is having him do a lot of extra work to make it up," James said clearly lying.

Remus could tell that James was telling the truth about Sirius being in the library, but he also knew he was not doing make-up work for potions.

They past the rest of breakfast in relative quiet. After breakfast they headed out to their first class, which was transformation.

When the got to class they took their usual spot at the back of the class. They had barely gotten their books out of their bags when Sirius had joined them. It was an odd sight, Sirius had his face in a book.

"I just don't get it," Sirius said not even looking up from his book.

"If you're having trouble with your potions class I could help you," Remus said.

Sirius jumped and dropped his book. He had been so focused on what he was doing that he hadn't even noticed that Remus was there.

"They let you out of the hospital wing," Sirius said recovering from his surprise.

"Kind of," Remus said. "I am allowed out for classes but I have to go back at the end of the day and they want me there during lunch."

"Well at least you can get out of that room for a little while," Sirius said. "I bet that being in that hospital wing all day is as entertaining as a double lesson in History of Magic class."

"Yeah," Remus said, "So you are having trouble with potions."

Sirius had a confused look on his face, but he quickly recovered.

"Don't worry about it, I'll figure it out. You are looking at one of the smartest guys in school."

Remus still did not believe that Sirius was studying for potions. He had tried to get a look at the book Sirius had been reading but he had put it back into his bag before he had a chance to see it.

Before Remus could say anything else to Sirius Professor McGonagall started class.

To say the day was long, would be an understatement. Everywhere Remus went he was followed by stares and whispers. James, Sirius and Peter got onto everyone they could who was whispering but it did little to help. Adding on to this Remus once again had a major headache and was feeling more and more tired. To Remus it felt like a marching band had moved into his head after he had run a marathon.

He was determined to make it through the whole day.

At the end of the day his friends escorted him back to the hospital wing and it was all Remus could do not to fall asleep when he sat down on his bed.

"Remus, I don't think you should be trying to go through all your classes like that," Sirius said. Sirius had noticed how Remus had been rubbing his head throughout the day and how he had gotten more and more tried as the day went by.

"But I cannot stay in here all day with just my parents and Madam Pomfrey," Remus said.

"Why don't you just go to class for part of the day," Peter said, "We can bring you the homework and class assignments you miss."

"Yeah, that way you are out of the hospital wing and you don't wear yourself out," James added.

"And what am I suppose to do for the part of the day that I am in here?"

"You could try getting some rest," Sirius answered.

Remus glared at him. He had been being told to rest ever since it was discovered that he had been poisoned.

"Well, if you don't want to rest you could work on the map," James said.

"James how many times have I told you that there is no way to make a map of Hogwarts," Remus rolled his eyes, "It is enchanted in a way that prevents that."

"Yeah, yeah," James said, "you told us that a million times. But you can't keep going to all of your classes, it is wearing you out. You can work on the map in bed, and you will have plenty of time to come up with ideas on how to get around Hogwarts enchantment so that a map can be made."

Remus smiled it did sound like a good idea. Maybe he should only do half days of class and work on the map during the time that he was resting in the hospital wing.

"Could you guys pick up somethings for the library for me?"

"Of course we can," Sirius said.

After his friends left and Madam Pomfrey came to give him his medicine Remus told her that he would like to do half days in his classes.

"I don't see why your teachers will have a problem with that," Madam Pomfrey said. "I'll talk with Dumbledore tomorrow and see what we can get arranged."

After Madam Pomfrey made sure that Remus took his medicine she left, leaving him with his thoughts.

The day had gone nothing like Remus had planned, it appeared that he would no longer be able to pull off the appearance of a normal student. But it did give him something to think about.

What was Sirius hiding from him. It was clear that James and Peter knew, but why wasn't Sirius telling him.


	9. Chapter 8

When one walked into the hospital wing, they could feel the tension in the air. Today was a full moon. After many years the Lupins and Madam Pomfrey had come to know what to expect during a full moon, but with the poison in Remus' blood they had no idea what to expect.

Remus always dread the moon rising, but not tonight. Once the full moon past they would know what effect all of this would have on him during the transformation, and everyone could calm down. Whatever effect it had could not be as bad as having everyone worry about would happen.

Remus sighed, he hoped those did not become famous last words.

Remus sat up and picked up his school bag, that was laying next to the bed, and started looking for something to distract him from both the full moon and how nervous everyone was. He pulled out the magical mapping book that he had gotten out of the library. While he did not have the same faith that James and Sirius had that Hogwarts could be mapped, he saw no reason not to try to find a way.

It wasn't like he had anything better to do.

He had been taking notes from the chapter on unplottable places, when he heard voices coming from Madam Pomfrey's office.

This was nothing new, she seemed to always be talking to somebody in there these day. A lot of times Remus would see his parents or Professor Dumbledore come out of the office. It was clear that they were talking about his illness, which despite everything was not getting any better.

That was it!

Remus was tired of everyone keeping things from him, he was going to find out what they were talking about.

Remus got out of bed and immediately wished he didn't.

While full moons had made him tried and sore in the past, the poison in his system was making things a lot worst. The sudden movement of getting out of bed had made he feel like he was going to throw up.

He ignored this as he walked slowly to the healer's office, only to trip over his blanket that had fallen to the side of his bed when he got up.

Looking around to see if anyone had heard him fall, Remus as surprised when it appeared that no one did. Madam Pomfrey had a sixth sense when it came to someone being out of bed when they shouldn't be. However, it appeared no one did and the talking continued in the office.

Whatever, they were talking about in that office had to be big. With that in mind, Remus got up and slowly made his way to the office.

" _Audi Sermone_ " Remus said pointing his wand at the door. He had learned this spell after years of hanging around James and Sirius. Immediately every word said in the office could be heard outside in the patients' room.

"Are you saying that Remus could die tonight?" Hope asked fear showing through with every word she said.

"Yes," Madam Pomfrey answered. "Whatever potion was used against Remus has had major impact on his physical strength. The other day he tried to head to his classes and was worn out by simply doing that. His transformations take a lot out of him on a normal bases adding this potion into the mix is likely to be to much worst."

"Does Remus know about this?" Lyall asked.

Madam Pomfrey sighed.

"I do not know if I should tell him, so as his parents I am leaving that choice up to you."

"And you are only giving us a few hours to decide if Remus should know?" Hope asked anger starting to show in her voice as well as fear.

"Hope calm down," Lyall said, "I'm sure that Madam Pomfrey has a lot of her plate right now…"

"And they go before the fact that our son is likely to die sooner than we thought," Hope said.

Remus had heard enough. He wave his wand, silencing the conversation.

He knew that everyone was worried about how his transformations would be effected by all of this, but he had never thought that he would die from transforming. Apparently, his parents hadn't thought so either.

"Well," Remus thought, "I knew I was dying anyways, maybe it would be better this way. It would be over quicker."

Minutes later his parents had come out, and looked like they had been crying. Remus did not care if his parents decided to tell him or not, he did not want to talk about it. To make sure he didn't have to Remus pretended to be asleep.

He heard the blankets he had left on the floor being picked up and then he felt them being pulled back over him.

"Why do these things always have to happen to you?" his mum whispered. "Your father thinks we should tell you what Madam Pomfrey said but I don't think there is a need. Because I don't care what she says you are not going to die from this. Not tonight and not in a few months. You are going to live Remus Lupin and we are going to be here for you."

Hope kissed Remus on the forehead and got up. "Get some rest sweetie, you are going to need it."

Remus did not move thinking about what his mother had said. She believed that he was going to be okay, even though all of the evidence pointed to that not being the case. It wasn't just her; his friends were also telling him every chance they got that they thought he was going to be alright.

One time when he had mentioned how likely it was that he was going to die Sirius had taken the liberty to slap him on top the head. Then Sirius told him to not even dare think like that again.

Remus did not want to die, and he was determined to prove his mum and friends right. He was not going to die from this.

While Remus was determining that he would live, Sirius was in their dorm room trying to find a way to help him do that.

Sirius could not of the life of him understand how Remus had gotten poisoned in the first place. Remus was smart enough to know not to eat or drink something that some random person gave him.

Hours of looking through books on poisoning and potions that have gone bad, kept leading Sirius back to the same conclusion; Remus would have had to have drink whatever it was.

"It could be a curse," Sirius thought. "No it can't be it the symptoms don't match and Madam Pomfrey would have noticed if that was the case. Also being a werewolf Remus could hear a pin drop all the way at the other side of the Great Hall during dinner, there is no way that someone would be able to get close enough to curse him without him noticing."

In frustration Sirius throw all of the books off of his bed. Than he it came him. It had been staring him in the face. Remus wouldn't have taken the potion if someone tried to give it to him, but if the slipped it into his food he would have. The best way for some one to do this would have been through his meals in the Great Hall.

Whoever poisoned Remus could have easily gotten it to him through the kitchens.

With this thought Sirius hurried out of his dorm room and out though the common area. Sirius ran down the corridors, completely ignoring the teachers and perfects who shouted at him to slow down.

If Sirius had been paying attention he would have noticed that this was the quickest he had even gotten to the kitchens from the dorm room. Him and James had always been trying to get there fastest, ever since they discover where the kitchen where located in their first year.

Sirius tickled the pear and walked into the kitchens. As soon as they noticed Sirius every house elf bowed.

"I have a question to ask you and it is very important," Sirius said.

"Of course sir, however we can be of service," the nearest house elf answered.

"A friend of mine has been poisoned," Sirius said, "Did anyone put anything in the food, that is not usually in it."

"No sir, we never allow that," answered the elf.

"No sir," the elf answered nervously, "have a good day sir. The elves than pushed Sirius out of the kitchens as quick as they could.

When the kitchen door had closed behind him, Sirius knew that he was right. The Hogwarts house elves were always willing to help, also this was the first time he went into the kitchens and they haven't tried to get him to take baskets of food.

As a member of a pureblood family he knew how houses elves work. They had to listen to every member of the family, but could not members of the family's secrets not even to other members of the family. Sirius had used this to his advantage many times with Kreacher. However, there was one exception to this rule. House elves would have to tell the head of the family any thing they had directly asked them.

If the house elves of Hogwarts worked the same way, they could not tell him anything a fellow student had done. They would, however, have to tell Dumbledore if he asked.

With this in mind Sirius ran for Dumbledore's office.


	10. Chapter 9

Sirius knew where Dumbledore's office was, he had been there just last month after he had told Snape how to get past the Whooping Willow. When he got in front of the griffin that hide the entertain to the office he panted and shouted, "Sweet tarts."

The griffin did not move.

"Oh come on," Sirius thought. Of all the times for Dumbledore to change the password; he needed to see Dumbledore now.

"Honeydukes"

"Chocolate Frogs"

"Every Flavor Jellybeans"

"Gumdrops"

At once the griffin moved aside and a staircase appeared.

"Our headmaster has a sweet tooth problem," Sirius mumbled as he headed up the stairs.

When he got to the door, he pounded on it. A small 'come in' was heard from the other side and with that Sirius hushed in.

Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk and looked up when Sirius came in.

"Ah, Mr. Black, I was wondering who would be trying to knock my door down," said Dumbledore with a smile.

"I think I know what happened to Remus."

"How have you managed to do that when our own head nurse has no idea what kind of poison was used," Dumbledore asked.

"That not what I mean," Sirius said.

"Please continue."

"I was thinking about what happened to Remus and I have come to the conclusion that for Remus to have been poisoned he would have had to have ingested it in some way," Sirius said.

"Naturally," said Dumbledore

"Well, after we had discovered Remus' secret a few years ago he told use how a lot of times when people discovered what he was they had tried to kill him. There was even one time when he was nine a neighbor had tried to poison him. He would know not to eat or drink something that some random person had given him."

"Where are you going with this Sirius," Dumbledore asked.

"The only way that Remus could have been exposed to that poison would be if he had eaten it from the Great Hall. I went and talked with the house elves and they denied everything, but I have a house elf at home. You can also tell when a house elf is riding something from you because someone else in the family told them not to say anything. Only the head of the family can overrule a member of the family. Hogwarts elves would be the same way," Sirius explained looking Dumbledore straight in the eyes. "Whoever poisoned Remus had one of the house elves put it into his food."

Dumbledore did not miss a beat. Right after Sirius had finished his explanation he was up from his desk and out the door, leaving Sirius standing were he was.

After a moment of confusion Sirius followed Dumbledore out the door and down to the kitchens.

Once in the kitchen Dumbledore got the attention of every house elf there.

"I have reason to believe that someone here had been asked for a different ingredient be added to one of Remus Lupin's meals. If anyone knows anything about this, please come forward."

Tini, who had been in the back of the kitchen, made her way forward her whole body shaking as she went.

"I was the one to put the potion in Master Lupin's breakfast," she said, "It was an order I could not refuse."

Dumbledore bent down to her level, "I understand that if you had been ordered to do so you would have to, so you are not in trouble. What I need to know is do you know who had ordered you to do so."

"Oh, yes sir," Tini answered, "He comes in here every now and again, Master Severus Snape sir."

If the headmaster had not been standing right there, Sirius would have stormed into the Slytherin common room and focused Snape to drink poison himself. As it was Dumbledore was there and before Sirius could even begin to think of a reason to leave Dumbledore had him following him back to his office.

Before Sirius even knew what was happening he was standing in Dumbledore's office with Slughorn and Snape.

Sirius glared at the Slytherin wishing he had the ability to cause him pain just by looking at him.

"It appears that a witness has you ordering a house elf to put poison in Mr. Lupin's breakfast," Dumbledore said looking at Snape, the twinkle in his eye completely gone. "Believe you know how serious these accusations are?"

"I'm afraid I don't, sir," Snape replied, "According to the Werewolf Registration Law article 8 section 4, if someone feels threatened by a werewolf in any way they can take whatever actions they feel necessary. While I myself did not attack Lupin, if anyone found out what he was they may feel threatened by him and than by law they can do something like poison his breakfast. And in case you have forgotten, I was attacked by him only last month."

"Why you like rat," Sirius said slowly letting his angry come out with each word. "You were the one who had went down under the Whooping Willow, and Remus wasn't even the one to tell you how to do that, that was me. This is all about prejudice you're just using the law to justify it."

"Sirius, that is enough," Dumbledore said calmly, before turning back to Snape.

"While you claim that you have not done this crime, the evidence against you cannot be over look. As such I will like to know what was in the potion that you gave to Remus."

"How should I know, sir," Snape said, "I did not give him anything and even if I did, do you honestly think that as a fourth year I could make a potion like that."

"No, put I do believe that you could get it from an outside source. I would like to know who that outside force was," Dumbledore said.

"If I did not do anything how could I tell you where the person who did got the poison."

Dumbledore sighed, "If you are unwilling to give us anymore information very well, we have evidence that you were the one who order the potion put in Remus' breakfast, so there will be punishments. For this I will be taking 200 points from Slytherin house, all of your privileges will be revoked and you will serve detention every night from now until the end of the year. We will discuss if any of these punishments will continue into next year."

Both Snape and Sirius started to complain about this, but Dumbledore cut them off before they could get a word out.

"My decision is final. Severus will you please follow Professor Slughorn so that you can discuss your detention."

Snape glared at Dumbledore but said nothing as he followed Slughorn out of the office.

"He poisons Remus and that all he gets," Sirius shouted once the door had closed.

"Sirius please keep your voice down." Dumbledore said.

"He tried to kill Remus," Sirius said, "in fact he could still kill him."

"Snape was not wrong about the law, if he feels threatened by a werewolf he can legally take whatever action he wants."

Sirius' jaw dropped and his eyes grew wide.

"In fact many would question giving Snape any punishment at all. However, it is against school rules to be in the kitchens as well as to brew dangerous potions like the one he used on Remus without supervision." Dumbledore continued, "So I am able to punish Snape but if I expel him it will bring unwanted questions, questions that could cause more trouble for Remus."

"It is legal for him to poison Remus," Sirius asked.

"Yes," Dumbledore answered, "That is why when his neighbor tried to poison him when he was nine there was no charges pressed. I had to go through many hoops to get the Ministry of Magic to allow Remus to come here and one of them was my word that they will not have to deal with any issues regarding Remus. If a student is expelled because of Remus for any reason, the Ministry will not take kindly to that and there will be trouble."

"So Snape gets away with poisoning Remus, so that you don't get in trouble."

"No," Dumbledore said, "Snape is not getting expelled because it would cause trouble for Remus. Which I might added is what saved you from being expelled last month."

That made Sirius stop for a moment. It was odd that he had put another student's life in danger but was not expelled because of it. At the time he was more worried about Remus forgiving him to even think about how lucky he had been. Now he saw that he was lucky and the only reason for that was to protect Remus.

"What about the potion, are you just going to take Snape's word that he does not know what is in it," Sirius finally asked.

"Sirius I do believe Severus when he says that whatever was in the potion is beyond his skill level," Dumbledore answered, "I would have like if Severus had told us were he got the potion from, but it appears that is unlikely."

"So we are back where we started," Sirius sighed. He had thought that when he discovered who had poisoned Remus, they would know how to save him.

"Not quite," Dumbledore said, "We now know how the poison got into Remus' system which goes a long way in discovering it nature and a way to cure it."


	11. Chapter 10

The full moon covered almost the entire view from the window in the Gryffindor common room, making it harder for Sirius to look away from it.

When he had left Dumbledore's office that morning he had headed over to the hospital wing to see Remus. Before he got there he had over heard the Lupins talking, Remus could die tonight.

This was going to be the longest full moon he could remember. And that included the one where he would have to tell Remus that he had told Snape how to get under the Whomping Willow when the sun came up.

Sirius sighed, it was because of that night they were in this situation to begin with. If he had never told Snape how to get under that stupid tree, then he would not know that Remus was a werewolf.

Remus could die tonight because of Sirius.

"No, it was because of Snape," Sirius growled in his mind.

He had never been Snape's friend; he couldn't even stand to be in the same room as him. But now Snape had gone too far. He did not care that by law Snape had done nothing wrong, what Snape was doing was attempted murder and Sirius was going to make him pay for it.

"If only I could poison him like he did Remus and than find some loophole in the law that would make it to were I could not be punished," Sirius thought. He let out a sigh. "There is no way I could do that and get away with it. Snape had made it clear that he would like nothing more than to see all of use expelled. Not to mention the reason that Dumbledore did not punish that little vomit bag more was because it would bring unwanted attention to Remus. I can't do anything that will cause Remus more trouble."

Sirius started to absent mindlessly tap his head against the window as if by doing so his mind will come up with the prefect way to make Snape pay. Than it hit him.

"If Snape wants to play dirty than I'll play dirty to," Sirius said to the empty room. He didn't give himself time to consider if what he was going to do was right or even take time to think what he was going to do through. As soon as the words left his mouth Sirius got up from his perch by the window and headed out to the common room.

Being in the common room was hard for Sirius, knowing that Remus could die tonight and everyone was going about their everyday lives as if nothing was wrong.

It didn't take long for Sirius to find who he was looking for.

Lily Evans had taken a small table in the back of the common room and had her books spread out on them. She was clearly in the middle of writing the essay that they had been assigned, the same essay that Sirius had decided he wouldn't even attempt to do.

Sirius sat down at in the chair access from her causing Lily to look up from her work. Generally speaking, Lily could not stand the Marauders, thinking that they were both irresponsible and mean. These past few weeks however, she felt nothing but pity for them with what they were going through. Because of this she didn't tell Sirius to beat it like she normally would do, but asked him what she could do to help him.

"We know who poisoned Remus," Sirius answered Lily.

Lily's jaw dropped.

"Have you told Dumbledore, if he knows who did it than there is a chance to help Remus and that person can be punished for what they did," Lily said in a rush.

"Dumbledore knows and has done everything he can, but it will not help Remus," Sirius answered sadly. He than told Lily everything that he had discovered. Leaving out the fact that Remus was a werewolf, instead making it sound like the word of a house elf would not be enough to evidence for Snape to be expelled.

Throughout Sirius explanation Lily simply shook her head.

"You're wrong," Lily said when Sirius finished. "I know you and your friends don't like Severus, but he is a good guy who would never do anything like what you are try to say that he did. I know you guys are hurting but to turn Severus into the villain here simply so that you have someone to blame is horrible."

With that Lily quickly gathered up her belongings and headed up to the girls' dormitory.

Sirius watched her go, knowing that telling her was the right thing to do.

Morning came to quickly of Madame Pomfrey and the Lupins, they all knew that there was a high chance they would find Remus dead when they went into the Shrieking Shack.

When the trap door to the house was open it was clear something was off. Everything in the house looked the same as it did when Remus was lead up there last night. That had never happened before. Madame Pomfrey always had to repair at least one piece of furniture and clean up the blood and scratch marks to the best of her ability. Today however, there was nothing to clear up.

Mrs. Lupin pushed past both Madam Pomfrey and her husband, running up to the room that Remus used to transform.

Remus was laying on the bed at the far side of the room, clearly not having moved at all that night.

Mrs. Lupin could not move and her heart stopped. Remus looked to be dead and she could not find the strength to go find out.

Her husband, who had just entered the room, walked past her and up to the bed. He had a blank emotionless expression on his face. He bent down and put a hand on Remus' chest. His face was flooded with relief.

"H-he's alive."

That was all it took for Mrs. Lupin to regain he composure and go over to her son.

While he was still alive, Remus did not look good. He was pale with sweat pouring down his face. His breathing sound terrible as if he was trying to remember how to breath.

While Remus was carried up to the hospital wing, all Mrs. Lupin could think about was how was her baby going to survive that again. How was Remus going to survive another full moon if a cure was not found before than?

It wasn't long after Remus was brought to the hospital wing that the rest of the Marauders made it up there to see him.

"This is hospital wing, not a circus," Madam Pomfrey said when they had rushed through the door making as much noise as they could.

"Sorry," James said, then he got sight of Remus.

"I-is he going to be okay," James said, unable to take his eyes off of Remus.

Madame Pomfrey sighed and turned to face James.

"Sadly I don't know. Now I must ask you all to leave."

"We won't be any trouble. We'll just set here quietly." Sirius said.

"No, you all will have to leave," Madame Pomfrey said knowing the Marauders a little to well by now.

Than completely ignoring their complaints, she pushed them right out of the hospital wing.

"She never made us leave after a full moon," Peter said.

James did not openly express his feelings, but this worried him.

"We need to find out who did this," James said still looking at the door they were just pushed out of.

"I know who did this," Sirius said.

James and Peter both stared at Sirius for this. Sirius than explained everything that he had learned since he last talked to them.

"So that toad stool gets a slap on the wrist, while Remus is left fighting for his life," James all but shouted. It was clear that he was just as angry about this as Sirius was. "And you got Lily involved."

"What was I suppose to do," Sirius said. "If I did what I wanted to, unneeded attention would be brought to Remus and I will do nothing that causes him anymore pain."

"I know that," James answered, "but how does getting Lily involved do anything."

"James, you may be to busy giving Lily puppy dog eyes to notice, but she is that thing's only friend. She is a good person at heart and she will not stand for what Snape did. Losing his friend is the only idea I could come up with that will get revenge and make Snape help save Remus." Sirius explained.

"How will turning Lily against Snape make him help Remus?" Peter asked.

"I can't stand Snape, but I know that I could not stand to lose my friends. I'm hoping that Snape values his friendship with Lily the same."

Little did the Marauders know Sirius telling Lily had the exact effect he was hoping for.

Lily had cornered Snape outside of the Great Hall before breakfast that morning and questioned him about what Sirius had said. With in little prodding Lily was able to get the truth out of Snape. The whole truth.

"So Sirius shows the maturity of a toddler and you take it out on Remus," Lily said angrily glaring down at Snape.

"Lily, you don't understand…," Snape tried to explain, but Lily cut him off.

"I know you said it, Remus is a werewolf. You know what Severus that is no excuse for what you did."

With that Lily turned around to leave only for Snape to grab her shoulder.

"Let me explain," Snape said.

"No," Lily shouted, pushing his arm off of her shoulder. "Don't even talk to me."

With that Lily stormed away leaving Snape alone.

Late that night back at the hospital wing, Remus finally woke up. He felt weaker than he ever remembered feeling.

"Mom," he said when he noticed who was sitting at his bedside.

Mrs. Lupin who had been dozing for a while woke all the way.

"Remus, your awake," Mrs. Lupin said the relief showing in her voice.

"You had a bad moon, dear. Nothing that hasn't happened before," she explained.

Remus nodded knowing that there was more to it than that. His mom looked way to relieved for it to have simply been a bad moon.

Mrs. Lupin reached over the bed to Remus' bedside table.

"Here, Madame Pomfrey wanted you to drink this as soon as you woke up."

Remus nodded and went to sit up. What little color he had left was drained when he did.

Seeing her son's face Mrs. Lupin started to panic. "Remus, what's wrong?"

It took Remus a moment to calm the fear building inside of him to answer his mom. As she started to aske him again, Remus answered.

"I can't move my legs," Remus said.


	12. Chapter 11

**Hey everyone. I'm sorry I have not been updating this story for a while.**

Remus spent a good amount of time trying to get his legs to move, even just a little bit. It was no use. He had heard that Madam Pomfrey thought that paralyzes might be a side effect of the poison, but he had not been worried about it. There was a lot that was not known about the poison in his system so making an accurate prediction of what the symptoms may be would be difficult to say the least.

" _Sadly, she was dead on about this_ ," Remus thought to himself. " _Now any freedom I had from the hospital wing is gone. I am now stuck in this bed. Great, just great."_

Remus was pulled out of his depressing thought by the sound of wing's door opening and his friends coming in.

Despite everything that was happening Remus could not help but smile at them.

James, Sirius and Peter where carrying some much Honeydukes candy that he could barely see their faces. It looked like it was taking everything they had to keep from dropping anything. Remus was wondering how they even got the door open.

James got to the bed first and dropped is load down, quick followed by Sirius and Peter.

"We heard that you just woke up," Peter said with a smile, which showed that he had had some of the candy already, jurying by the chocolate between his teeth.

"So we thought we should bring you a little bit of a pick me up," James added.

"Translation, you decided it would be a good excuse to break school rules and sneak out past out the one-eye witch into Honeydukes," Remus said. "And of once I'm glad you did."

With that Remus took one of the chocolate frogs that was threaten to fall of the bed.

"James, Peter, quickly mark this date," Sirius said jumping up and down waving his arms. "Remus is actually okay with us breaking rules."

James rolled his eyes and than turned to Remus.

"Are you okay, Madam Pomfrey sounded really worried when she told us you were awake. Did something happen during the full moon?" he asked.

With this question Remus almost choked on his chocolate frog.

"W-what all were you told?"

"Not much," Sirius said sitting down on Remus' bed.

"Well, remember when we first found at I was poisoned and Madam Pomfrey said that paralyzes was a likely side effect," Remus said doing his best to keep his emotions from showing through his voice.

James, Sirius and Peter nodded.

Than it dawned on them. Shock could be seen on all three of their faces.

Peter was the first to recover.

"You mean you cannot walk?"

Remus nodded. "I can't even wiggle my toes."

"When they find a cure to the poison, you will be able to move them again?" Sirius asked.

"First, we don't know if they will even find a cure," Remus said.

"We will," Sirius said.

"Secondly, if they find the cure I may or may not. We don't know if the damage will be permanent," Remus continued as if Sirius had not even spoken.

"In all honest, a part of me is starting to believe that they will not find a cure."

At this Sirius took Remus by the shoulders and shook him.

"Don't you ever say anything like that again," Sirius said with his face only inches away from Remus. "They will find a cure and you will get better."

"Sirius, I want to believe you but things aren't looking good right now. They still don't even know how I got the poison in my system in the first place," Remus said.

At this Sirius had to bit his lip. He, James and Peter had decided before they went in to see Remus not to mention anything about Snape's involvement. They did not know how he would take it and with everything else he was going through they did not want to put that on him.

"So it doesn't look good," James said, "Neither did my potions essays last year. You all believed I was destined to fail, Sirius even made jokes about it. In the end I did so well on my exams, Slughorn didn't even know what to say. So same here, it isn't over yet."

"James, this is not the same. Last year you ignored your homework, wanting to get onto the house Quidditch team. You had studied for that exam because your dad threatened to forbid you from playing," Remus said. "I have no control here."

James just shrugged his shoulders.

"Remember it however you like. That doesn't change the fact that you will get better," James said.

Remus opened his mouth to reply when he was cut off.

"So will you still be going to classes?" Peter asked. He knew from experience that this conversation could go on forever, with nothing new being said. He so he tried to change the topic.

"I don't think so," Remus said, relieved for the change of topic, even if it was depressing. "It looks like my few chances to get out to get out of the Hospital Wing are gone."

"Well, you won't have to worry about company," Sirius said. "We will be here every opportunity we can."

"Yeah, Madam Pomfrey will have to kick us out and lock the doors to keep us away," James said. Sirius and Peter nodding at every word he says.

"And she will," Remus said with a smile.

After that the conversation went to less serious topics. From Peter's fail potion in class the other day, to James attempts to get Lily to go on a date with him. All of it helping Remus get his mind off of his legs and his imprisonment in the Hospital Wing. After awhile Madam Pomfrey came and made them leave.

After they left the Hospital Wing they headed down to the Great Hall for dinner. None of them able to think about anything other than their friend and the predicament he was in. They did not make it all the way to the Great Hall before the were stopped by the last person any of them wanted to see.

Snape had put himself at the end of the staircase heading to the Great Hall and was waiting for them.

"I was wondering how long it would take for you all to get here," Snape said.

James and Peter quick grabbed the back of Sirius' robes to keep him from attack Snape.

"Snape if you know what is good for you, you will not talk with us," James said, there was a venom in his voice that none of them have ever heard.

"Trust me, Potter I don't want to be talking with you either," Snape said with a sneer. "However, somehow Lily has found out about this unfortunate business with Lupin and the rumor that I was the one who had poisoned him."

James and Peter simply glared at Snape while Sirius tried to break their hold on him so he could break Snape's nose.

Noticing that they were not going to say anything Snape continued.

"Because of that Lily hates me and refuses to talk to me."

"I knew there was a reason I liked her," James said.

"I could care less if Lupin lives or dies, but I cannot live with Lily hating me. So I am willing to help you find a cure for him." Snape said.

"Do you think we will expect help from you," Sirius shouted. "It's your fault that Remus is even in this situation."

"You cannot prove that," Snape said calmly, "The only evidence you have is the word of a house elf."

"If you ask me," Sirius shouted back, "I'm glad that Lily is finally seeing you for what you are a worthless…"

James cut Sirius off. "How could you trust any help you give us?"

"Does it matter if you can trust me or not?" Snape said. "From my understanding Lupin doesn't have much of a chance as things are. How would you feel if he dies and you turned away possible help?"

"If Remus dies you will be the one with something to worry about," Sirius said in a lower voice glaring at Snape.

"Yes, I'm sure you will find some way to get back at me for all of this, but will it bring your friend back?" Snape replied.

At this Sirius resumed his attempts to get out of James and Peters grasps.

"How do you plan to help?" James asked. As much as he disliked accepting help from Snape, he could not bring himself to turn away help that could save Remus' life.

"As I have said, it was only a rumor that I was involved in Lupin being poisoned," Snape said ignoring the glares this comment gave him.

"However, I may have an idea were that poison came from and who brewed it. With that information you can get a sample of the original poison and likely find the cure."


	13. Chapter 12

They had broken a lot of school rules over the years, but tonight they were really pushing it, in James opinion.

The night before when they ran into Snape, James wanted to pour poison down his throat. As satisfying as he knew it would be; it would not help Remus. However, Snape claiming not to have any involvement in what happened did not help his control. Despite his hatred for the person delivering it, the news Snape had given them had been the best news he had heard in days.

There was a chance at a cure for Remus.

James wanted to go straight to Dumbledore and tell him what Snape had told them. Sirius on the other hand didn't think that was the best idea. Sirius believed that they would find the information faster if they did things themselves.

Personally, James thought that Sirius was still upset about the way that Dumbledore handled finding out how Remus was poisoned. The more Sirius talked the more James believed this to be true.

Now James found himself in the middle of Hogsmeade just only a few hours before dawn. Shortly after curfew Sirius had snuck into the village and purchased a pouch of Floo Powered.

The plan was simple. They would sneak into Hogsmeade in the middle of the night and use the Floo network from the Hogs Head to get to Diagon Alley. According to Sirius the Hogs Head security was probably the worst in the whole wizarding world, anyone could get in and out of there without being noticed. Once in Diagon Alley they would find somewhere to take cover until morning and than head to Knockturn Alley's potion shop. According to Snape, this in hole in the wall shop would sell you anything and ask no questions about what you were going to use it for. It specialized in poisons.

When they entered the Hogs Head, James couldn't help but wonder how the place managed to keep any business. Everything was covered in dust and he knew that he would never eat anything that came out of here.

"There it is," Sirius said pointing to the large fireplace on the back wall.

"Alright, I will go last so that I'll have the powder on me for our trip back," Sirius said opening the pouch in his hand.

After Peter took some of the powder and left to through the fireplace, James following closely behind. This had to be one of James least favorite ways to travel. Muggle transportation may be slow, but at least it didn't make the traveler uncomfortable the whole way.

Shortly after stepping into the fireplace James stepped out into Diagon Alley and Sirius followed not long after.

They quickly made their way down Diagon Alley to the potion shop that Snape had told them about. The shop itself was small, so small in fact that they had very nearly missed it when they were looking. The inside of the shop was so small that there was barely enough room of the three of them and the front desk. The place as dark and damp, making whoever was brave enough to step in the room with the rotten fish smell quickly wish that they hadn't.

The man sitting behind the counter was just as appealing. The man had a distinctive smell to him that James could not even describe, with food stains and holes covering his clothes. The man had so much dirt under his finger nails that they appeared to be black around the edges and had so much grease in his hair that it stuck up in odd places.

"What do you want," he said glaring at them.

"You had a customer by the name of Severus Snape in here a while back and we would like to know what you sold him," Sirius said stepping up to the counter.

"Now look here," the sales man said. "I don't go out giving information on my clients to just anyone how walks in off of the streets. Its bad for business you know."

At this Sirius pulled out a small bag from the pocket of his robes and spilled the contents out onto the counter. James mouth fall open when he saw the galleons hit the counter, he had no idea that his friend had that kind of money.

The sale's man was just as shocked as James was. He picked up on of the galleons and bit down on it, as if checking to make sure it was real. Than he looked down at Sirius.

"Where did you get that kind of money," he asked.

"I come from a very powerful family," Sirius said. Shocking James even more. Sirius hated his family and everything to do with them. The idea that he would use them for help with anything in anyway was unheard of.

"Let me see what records say," the sales man said.

"I would also like a list of what was in that potion if you have it," Sirius said.

The sales man only nodded. It wasn't long before he came back carrying a small vital and an old piece of parchment.

"Here," he said handing it to Sirius.

With that Sirius took James and Peter be the arms and lead them out.

Once they were a good distance from the shop James turned to Sirius.

"Why did you tell that man you were from a powerful family?"

"I've had to go into places like that with them. The people who run those kinds of shops are only interested in money, that's way they are willing to sale things like this poison and not ask what the customer plans to do with it. However, while they generally play act tough they are scared of the pureblood families," Sirius explained. "By letting him know I came from one, I knew that he was going to do everything he could to keep me happy."

Sirius gave a disgusted face and he stuck out his tongue.

"If either of you ever mention this to anyone, I promise our friendship will be over and you will have to sleep with one eye open from the rest of your life," Sirius said.

James and Peter nodded, neither of them would ever dare say anything.

"I did that only because Remus needs this so badly, I would not have brought up my family if it wasn't because of that," Sirius said.

James could tell by the sound of his voice that Sirius was trying to justify this to himself more than anything else.

"The important thing now is that we have know what is in that poison," James said quickly changing the subject.

"Even better, we have a sample of the poison," Sirius said holding up the vital. "If all goes will Madam Pomfrey will be able to use this to find a cure. Old Moony could be back on his feet by the end of the week."

"How are we going to explain how we got that?" Peter asked.

James and Sirius stopped in their tracks; neither of them had thought of that.

"Don't worry about that," Sirius said waving his hand in dismissal. "The teachers will understand why we did what we did."


End file.
